Page 52 of Twins for the Mafia Heir

People, at least three, are stomping around every inch of the room while more men run around downstairs. It took them less than a minute to search each room on our floor. They should move on any second-

“Clear,” a man’s voice says. “Let’s keep moving.”

I wait until their footsteps leave the room and move down the hall before whispering in Raleigh’s direction, “There are stairs leading down, but there’s a railing. Don’t let go of me, and don’t let go of it.” I guide her hand, holding mine, to grab the back of my shirt instead, and she obediently latches on.

“Okay.”

I feel around on the wall for the railing and start the descent in total darkness. We move agonizingly slowly while on the other side of the wall, men invade our home.

Fantasia’s men.

I didn’t even have to see them to know. Who else would be raiding this house, and right now?

This means that she would’ve ordered her men to organize for this attack the second I left Wesley Hall.

She looked into my eyes and begged me not to abandon her- and then she did this.

I can’t think too long about that, or I’ll stop focusing on where I’m putting my feet. I focus on my breathing to keep my rage at a simmer in my chest, and tighten my hold on Sidony. Raleigh’s hand fisted in the back of my shirt is another anchor, and I relish it.

The stairs abruptly end under my feet, and Raleigh almost stumbles behind me when she hits the bottom. I reach out in the dark and manage to get my arm around her shoulders. For a brief moment, the three of us hold each other and catch our breath. I shouldn’t be relieved already, we still have so far to go, but we’re on the route to safety now-

Someone knocks on the wall to my right, from inside the house. The wall is reinforced so the hollow space behind it isn’t too obvious, but it’s a stark reminder to keep moving. I search for Raleigh’s hand again and squeeze it, a silent urge to be followed closely. Then I put my hand on the left wall and followit around the bottom of the steps and down a narrow hall sloping downward.

We’re moving underground, and the temperature is dropping by the second. I move my hand from the wall to ward off the darkness in front of me, and catch myself before I can slam into the door I’m searching for. Blindly, I find the keypad. Blindly, I punch in the code. And finally, we emerge into the dim glow of the bunker.

My eyes adjust quickly to the room, and I’m relieved to see several staff members rummaging through the shelves lining the walls. They gasp quietly when they see us as well.

“Mr. Ashwood,” Barkley whispers, coming to my side. “Thank god you’re alright, sir.”

“And you, Barkley. Was anyone hurt?” My eyes are moving over the people in the room, and my stomach sinks as I come up short by three.

Barkley’s face becomes more grave than ever before. “We lost the new maid, Maria. She must’ve been surprised in the hall, I think. And then as soon as she screamed, they-” He clears his throat and stiffens his lip. “Mr. Renner and Mr. Black were out in the gardens, so I don’t know if they managed to run away or not. Other than that, we didn’t sustain any injuries.”

“Good work,” I tell him. “Disperse for now. Don’t return to the house until I give word.”

“And you, sir?” he asks.

Without the Ashwood House, I have half a dozen places I can go in London, but the city itself feels ruined by Fantasia’s betrayal. I look down at Sidony, still clinging to me with all her limbs, her eyes leaking silent tears. Raleigh, beside me, is listening hard to the house above our heads and the hall outside the bunker. She looks ready for combat, but that’s the last thing I’m going to expose her to.

We have to keep running.

“North,” I tell Barkley, my heart feeling like a stone in my chest. “I’m leaving England.”

Chapter 28

Emma

We have to take another passage out of the bunker and under the property of the Ashwood House. This portion is actually lit, thank god, but I still keep my hand in Achilles’s. I’m carrying Sidony now, while Achilles holds a pack of supplies over his shoulder. He keeps squeezing my hand, as if checking that I’m still here with him. I never hesitate to squeeze back.

It takes us several minutes to reach the end of the tunnel, where Achilles has to unlock a heavy metal door that leads us into a much smaller bunker room. He stops us for a moment, listening carefully, then guides me up a set of unfolded stairs and through a trapdoor into a shed. Fingers of grey light leak through the spaces between heavy curtains. Achilles peeks out of one. He seems pleased with what he sees, because he opens the door of the shed and finally lets us out into the sun.

I have to blink at where I find us- in the backyard of a tiny cottage in a row of tiny cottages. Achilles pulls me into the little garage attached to the house, where we find a sports car he climbs right into. I don’t want to let go of Sidony, so I sit in the back seat with her. As soon as we’ve clipped on our seatbelts, he pulls us out onto the street.

Sidony is, at last, crying too hard to be silent. I let her lay over the backseat with her head in my lap sobbing until she’s exhausted herself, her lilac penguin crushed to her chest. There’s a burning in mine that started the second I saw her first tear fall, and from Achilles’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, I know he’s feeling the same.

Rage, hot and pressurized as a newly born star.

Fantasia lashed out, just like I knew she would. And she didn’t care about who else got caught in the wake. To be so thoughtless for her own niece-

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